Only Make Believe

Last week, OMB staff members Chris Wilson and Bonnie Christilaw joined New Alternatives For Children (NAC) for the Open House and Ribbon Cutting ceremony at their new home. OMB has been performing with NAC since 2006. We’re honored to partner with this incredible organization. NAC provides innovative, high quality services in support of birth, foster, and adoptive families caring primarily for medically complex children. This alignment with the Only Make Believe mission has made for a dynamic partnership between our organizations, and we look forward to continuing this impactful relationship as NAC enters this exciting new chapter! #nackidscan #medicallycomplexkids #inclusionmatters #nonprofitnyc #nonprofitpartner

As Summer comes to an end, we're looking forward to spending the holiday season with our Corporate Volunteers! Book a costume creation event now to #GiveBack to your community in a fun and unique way! Visit https://lnkd.in/eDZD_Kni to learn more ?? #CommunityImpact #SocialImpact #SeasonOfGiving #EmployeeEngagement

Accessibility is easier to achieve when you can break it down to concrete components. Access to both quality information and to meaningful relationships is so key — including ourselves! This framework is powerful for teams as they work to improve accessible for all. Book launch is just around the corner! ?? Head to the book website to have direct-to-you updates :) #DisabilityIsHuman #Disability #Accessibility [ID: Green and purple graphic with light lilac accents. On the top is a title pill box that says Accessibility. On the left hand side is a definition: Accessibility is the opportunity to engage with people, ideas and self in an authentic and organic manner. On the right are three boxes with 1,2,3. They say: 1: Access is not the burden of disabled people. 2: Access is more than accommodations. 3: Access must be intentional. There’s a link to www.DisabilityIsHuman website on the bottom. ]

Great tips and resources from Kids Included Together.

Closing out the week by giving our feature on Playbill another read! We are honored to be celebrating 25 years of bringing theatre to children in hospitals, care facilities, and special education settings. This is just the beginning.

We're excited to announce the addition of Owen Baughan to our Junior Board in DC. Owen stopped by a show recently at HSC Pediatric Center at National Children's Hospital, and he jumped right into the action. We think he'll be a great addition to the OMB community! Owen Baughan is a management consultant at PwC in their Workforce Transformation practice, focusing on human capital business initiatives. Prior to PwC, Owen worked at the DC fintech startup WalletHub, where he was a product manager tasked with helping grow their car insurance business. Owen graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in Economics and was born and raised in Winston Salem, NC. Owen has lived in DC since 2020. He loves the outdoors, live music, travel, and anything on the water. #juniorboard #dcnonprofit #artsnonprofit #nonprofitboard #giveback

Work hard, play hard! Only Make Believe's corporate events are fun ?and? impactful! Learn more about how your company can get involved by visiting https://lnkd.in/erbhu7uz #Nonprofit #CorporateEvents #GiveBack #CommunityImpact #CSR

"I'm running out of spoons!" ?????? Spoon Theory has had a profound effect on my view of time and energy. Christine Miserandino helped to bring Spoon Theory to my world. This concept is based on her experiences with Lupus and multiple other chronic health conditions. In the original essay, she describes a conversation she had with her friend about the difference between being healthy and being sick. The spontaneous use of spoons on the dining table helped to make concrete the abstract ideas behind energy availability and expenditures that are part of living with disability or a chronic illness. This idea and more are woven throughout Disability Is Human to help us build awareness and empathy for disabled people in our homes, schools, and workplaces. Thank you Christine, and here's to spoons well spent. #Disability #DisabilityIsHuman #Accessibility #Books Image description: Dark purple square with white text that says: Do you know the importance of Spoon Theory for disabled people? In the bottom right hand corner is an image of the book cover for Disability Is Human: The Vital Power of Accessibility in Everyday Life by Stephanie W Cawthon. It is lime green with dark purple font and lilac accents.

We are so grateful to have spent this summer partnering with BroadFutures, Inc., an incredible nonprofit revolutionizing the way young neurodivergent people enter the workplace. In addition to being paired with our wonderful DC intern, Jamie Gesell, we were given the opportunity to share what we do at OMB with the young people participating in BroadFutures. Executive Director Tamela Aldridge and Program & Marketing Associate Megan Graves developed and taught a series of workshops recontextualizing the core principles of OMB for young folks experiencing a professional setting. Watching these participants grow in confidence and skill was nothing short of amazing. Thank you, BroadFutures! #summerintern #neurodivergent #neurodiversityatwork #inclusiveworkplace #workshop #neurospicy

We shouldn't need to create a graphic on how to respond when you meet a Disabled person. But sadly, the reality is that most people feel fear, act differently, or say something ableist when we share with them. So following our Monday graphic, "Don't let your interaction be ableist. Please don’t", we created today's to follow on from this. Reach out today to learn how Unlearning Ableism's training and workshops can help your organisation. [email protected] Image Description: An Unlearning Ableism graphic. The title reads, “Someone self-identified, what should I do?” Below are 12 statements and circles accompanied by text and a piece of stick person clipart, they read: 1. Thank them – a person with their hands clapped together. 2. Don’t assume – a person assuming. 3. Don’t correct their language – a person drawing a tick. 4. Be respectful – a person letting a person using a walking aid past. 5. Don’t ask what happened – a person looking uncomfortable as another asks a question. 6. Don’t say they can’t be – a person judging another walking past using a cane. 7. Ask preferred communication – two people using two cups on a piece of string as phones. 8. Be patient – a person with their hand on their hip. 9. Be flexible – a person doing the splits across two blocks. 10. Ask if they have access needs – a person asking another a question. 11. Treat them as a person – two people fist-pumping each other. 12. Be open – a person speaking to a wheelchair user. #WednesdayWisdom #DisabilityInclusion #DiversityAndInclusion #UnlearningAbleism?